Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/94842
WHATEVER ST. ARMANDS WANTS … TOP STORIES Sarasota City Commission abandons the new parking restrictions that had brought a plethora of complaints — Stan Zimmerman Even as its representatives came to the table, city employ- ees were at work putting things back the way the island merchants wanted them. The issue was parking. When the Sarasota City commissioners yanked the parking meters out of downtown last year, they created a uniform parking policy but did not both- er to tell the merchants and residents of St. Armands about it. Suddenly, what was unfettered and free became timed and policed. When the tickets appeared last month and word began to circulate, a political storm started to brew. Seven weeks later, the city is making everything as it was before the "uni- form policy" was adopted. (Full story here) STAYING THE COURSE Narrow County Commission majority approves Housing Authority exclusivity in competition for federal low-income housing program tax credits — Cooper Levey-Baker After a debate over free-market principles and the need to finish projects that long have been in the works, the Sarasota County Commission voted narrowly on Nov. 13 to approve a policy that gives the Sarasota and Venice Housing Authorities the exclusive right to apply for state housing tax credits. The policy will help the Housing Authorities in the competition to win fed- eral tax credits for affordable housing through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, administered in the Sunshine State by the Florida Housing Finance Corp. In the past, that money has gone toward projects such as Janie's Garden, a mixed-income complex built in north Sarasota to replace the horribly dilapidated Janie Poe apartments. (Full story here) AT A GLANCE